Applications are invited for the post of Dean and Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town (UCT). This post will become vacant at the end of 2012, when the current Dean retires. UCT is looking for a candidate of high academic standing with proven leadership and managerial ability in the health and higher education sectors, who is registered, or eligible for registration, as a health professional in South Africa. A sound understanding of the South African health system is crucial. The Dean is responsible for health care and academic partnerships, including managing the agreements with the Western Cape Government and the National Health Laboratory Services. At a university-wide level, the Dean will be a member of the Senior Leadership Group of the University and will be expected to contribute to furthering the strategic goals of UCT, including transformation.
Jobs and Announcements
The overall goal of this call is the publication of a selection of papers to contribute to a new peer-reviewed journal on “systems thinking”. Please note that this call is not for proposals that simply seek to argue for the importance of systems thinking or make the case for why it matters - the call is strongly focused on enriching the knowledge base with practical guidance on relevant methods, tools and approaches to apply systems thinking for health systems in research and practice. The supplement will focus entirely on experiences in, or relevant to, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Proposals can address: health systems as a whole (as opposed to programmatic or intervention-specific focus) and/or applying the principles of systems thinking (such as complex adaptive systems,soft systems methodology, reflective practice etc.) to health systems. Discussions of interventions or policies with system-wide effects are welcome.
Also referred to as the Earth Summit or Rio+20 due to the initial conference held in Rio in 1992, the objectives of the Summit are: to secure renewed political commitment to sustainable development; to assess progress towards internationally agreed goals on sustainable development and to address new and emerging challenges. The Summit will also focus on two specific themes: a green economy in the context of poverty eradication and sustainable development, and an institutional framework for sustainable development.
As part of its national research capacity-strengthening mandate, the Consortium for National Health Research (CNHR) invites applications for research career development grants (RCDGs) from qualified Kenyan researchers (currently based in Kenya or working within the Diaspora) who wish to further develop their careers while undertaking research and training programmes in Kenya. The grants aim at enabling successful applicants to obtain high-quality research training that will lay the foundation for a successful independent research career. CNHR is planning to award 12 RCDGs commencing in October 2012. The grants will be competitively offered to support the development of research ideas, or acquisition of specialised research/training skills as a step towards a productive independent research career in areas of national health priority currently focused on the attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 (child health); 5 (maternal health); 6 (infectious diseases); emerging and non-communicable diseases, with improvement of health systems as an overarching theme.
Organisers of the Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (HSR) are calling on all interested parties to submit abstracts for the Second Global Symposium. Abstracts may be in one of three main themes: Knowledge translation; state-of-the-art health systems research; and health systems research methodologies. There are also three cross-cutting themes: Innovations in health systems research; neglected priorities or populations in health systems research; and financing and capacity building for health systems research. The overall goal of this call is to enhance health policy and management decision-making processes in low- and middle-income countries (particularly for the implementation and scale-up of effective interventions for MDGs 4, 5, and 6) through the identification and testing models of leadership development to strengthen the capacity of decision-makers to demand, access and use research.
The East, Central and Southern Africa College of Nursing (ECSACON) is calling for abstracts for the 10th ECSACON Scientific Conference. The theme is “Acceleration towards attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through revitalising primary health care: nurses and midwives sharing high impact interventions”. Sub-themes: Improving maternal and child health: Moving towards achieving the MDGs; Health systems strengthening; Innovations and excellence in nursing and midwifery; Evidence-based primary health care practices/approaches.
As part of its national research capacity-strengthening mandate, the Consortium for National Health Research (CNHR) invites applications for Research Career Development Grants (RCDGs) from qualified Kenyan researchers (currently based in Kenya or working within the Diaspora) who wish to further develop their careers while undertaking research and training programmes in Kenya. The grants aim at enabling successful applicants to obtain high-quality research training that will lay the foundation for a successful independent research career. In the long term, the aim is to build a critical mass of researchers undertaking relevant research-for-health for the betterment of Kenyans. CNHR is planning to award 12 RCDGs commencing in October 2012. The RCDGs will offer research career development opportunities for periods of not more than 18 months (from 1st October 2012), and will be offered to successful applicants who apply for consideration either as: postdoctoral research fellow; mid-career research fellow; or mid-career clinical research fellow.
The Healthcare in Africa conference will take place from 6-7 March 2012 in Cape Town, South Africa. It aims to bring together influential healthcare stakeholders from government, providers, suppliers and patient groups to confront and explore key issues around healthcare systems in Africa. Activities include interactive online brainstorming sessions, presentations of case studies and lectures form specialists and other stakeholders in healthcare in Africa. The following topics will be addressed: What is the right balance of private and public healthcare for Africa? How can healthcare systems best meet the demands of both infectious and chronic diseases? What are the best practices for affordable medicine in Africa, and what can be learnt from other emerging markets?
The Ethiopian Public Health Association and the World Federation of Public Health Associations invite public health professionals from around the world to participate in the Thirteen World Congress on Public Health 2012. The theme of the conference is ‘Towards global health equity: Opportunities and threats’. The conference has four main objectives. It is intended to serve as an international forum for the exchange of knowledge and experiences on key public health issues, as well as contribute towards protecting and promoting public health at global, continental and national levels. It is also intended to help create a better understanding of Africa’s major public health challenges within the global public health community and to facilitate and support the formation of the African Federation of Public Health Associations.
Forum 2012 will bring together key actors to make research and innovation work for health, equity and development: governments, industry, social enterprise, non-governmental organisations, researchers, media, funders , international organisations and others. Partipcipants will explore who will explore ways to go ‘beyond aid’ by building on the rapidly expanding research and innovation capacity of low- and middle-income countries as basis for development. The Forum has three main themes: improving and increasing investments in research and innovation; networking and partnerships in research, technological innovations, social innovations and delivery of better health care; and improvement of health, equity and development of low-income countries by creating a supportive environment, including priority setting in research for health, fair research contracting, research cooperation and ethics, nanotechnologies, technological and social innovations, and using the web as a tool for planning research.